June Spirit Award Winners

The Monthly Spirit Awards

Each month the CrossFit Xtra Mile coaches nominate an athlete from each gym as the monthly Spirit Award Winner. At the end of the year, members from each gym will vote for the yearly winner of the Clayton Pfeiffer Spirit Award who best represents the character and qualities of Clayton Pfeiffer, a young Xtra Mile athlete lost to us much too young. Clayton was a college baseball player and a gym junkie. He was not the biggest athlete, but he would not be outworked, and he had a kind and fun personality. At the CrossFit Xtra Mile gyms, coaches are constantly on the lookout for athletes that honor Clay’s memory.

June Spirit Award Winner–CFXM Fenton

CrossFit Xtra Mile’s June Spirit Award Winner is the adventuresome sort. He has been skydiving, visited many national parks, and rode a Motorcycle 9, 231 miles across Alaska to the Arctic circle!

In and Out of the Gym

When he isn’t doing something extreme, Bryce might be playing guitar, hanging out with his black lab Reload, or working in the finance and accounting industry. However, since September 2017, you will often find Bryce at CrossFit Xtra Mile. He found the gym through a friend’s Facebook posts and decided to try it out to add to his exercise routine, which mostly consisted of playing volleyball a few nights a week.

Bryce fell in love with CrossFit during on ramps with Tina and has been coming ever since. Since starting CrossFit, Bryce has gained a lot of confidence. He will try anything once, and he knows he is capable of anything with hard work and the great community of Xtra Mile behind him. Some of his favorite moves to try are squats, burpees, and pistols.

Finding Friends

Bryce says that when he started CrossFit, he wasn’t expecting to find a group of friends, but that’s been his favorite part of the gym. He has loved developing relationships and watching everyone’s successes. One of his favorite memories of the community at Xtra Mile is doing Open WOD 18.2. He was being cheered on the whole time by his good friends Coach Austin and Sam Williams. He wanted to slow down but didn’t because he was being cheered on by some of his best friends. He was happy to suffer with friends.

Being a Friend

One of the things that his coaches love about Bryce is what a great friend he is to everyone in the gym. He is everyone’s biggest fan and encourager. You can’t help but smile and have fun if Bryce is around. He is always smiling, and he has an amazingly positive attitude about trying to get better. Since starting in September, he has improved in both skills and strength because he is willing to work hard all the time. He does extra work. He seeks out extra coaching. He seems to enjoy the journey of improving without ever taking himself too seriously.

He is extremely coachable and always thanks the coaches for their tips and cues. He works to immediately put the feedback into action and spends his whole time in the gym trying to get better.

Some Good Advice

Bryce has some good advice for those just starting their CrossFit Journey:

Don’t be intimidated

Introduce yourself to everyone you can

Seek out feedback from coaches

Come as much as you can and have fun

Do YOUR workout. Don’t worry about what someone else is doing

Motivate those around you. Celebrate Others’ successes.

Just being around Bryce and his fantastic attitude can make a person feel pretty motivated, so be sure and try to catch a workout with him sometime this summer! You never know when you might see him at the gym. Congratulations, Bryce! We love having you as a part of the XM family!

June Spirit Award Winner–CFXM Central

The selection of CrossFit Xtra Mile–Central’s June Spirit Award Winner is bittersweet. We have been thrilled to have Rosa as a part of the Central Family for nearly a year. However, she has recently moved to Seattle to start her residency in obstetrics and gynecology.

Attitude and Work Ethic

Rosa’s coaches and fellow athletes already miss her spunky attitude and her work ethic. Rosa always came to classes ready to learn and work hard. She has very high expectations of herself, and this drive has lead to amazing improvements in the relatively short time she has been CrossFitting. Her coaches love that she has gained confidence and is not afraid to go heavy with weight or try RX workouts.

More than a Gym

As much as the Central community will miss Rosa, Rosa will miss them more. She says that she fell in love with CrossFit and the gym because of the people at Central. She found the gym through Amber Alber, who was one of her resident doctors on her pediatric rotation during med school. The members and coaches at Central made her feel welcome from the beginning, were always encouraging, and many became her good friends. Taco Tuesdays are something she will really miss as she moves away.

Making Gains

Besides gaining friends, Rosa feels she has gained strength, conditioning, and most importantly, confidence. She describes herself in the beginning as scared to pick up the barbell or try new skills like rope climbs. Now, she feels confident trying heavier weights and new movements. She’s also seen the confidence transfer to outside the gym as a person and as a future doctor.

Making Memories

When Rosa is working out, her favorite movement is the power clean. It’s the first Olympic movement she really got the hang of, and it is still her favorite.
She also loves pull ups. In fact, her favorite CrossFit memory is of getting her first pull up. She had set getting pull-ups as her goal from the very beginning, but it felt like something she might never do.

Then, one class, Coach Kevin worked with her on some drills and practice, and she ended up getting a couple. Rosa said it felt amazing to see how much better at something she had never been able to do. It was also awesome to get so much support and cheering from her friends, classmates, and coach.

Outside the Gym

When Rosa is not at the gym or learning to be a doctor, she likes to spend time with her husband Carlos and her puppy Yadi. She also loves trying out new baking recipes, spending time with friends trying new foods, and eating dessert.

Leaving Advice

As Rosa moves on, she has some advice for new CrossFitters:

Come often

Get involved in the community and get to know people at the gym

Don’t be afraid to fail

Go for it! You won’t get better if you don’t push yourself!

Rosa will always consider the members of CrossFit Xtra Mile Central her gym family, and for the members and coaches at Central, Rosa will always be family, too. Rosa, we wish you the best of luck on your big adventure out West! We miss you already!